Adjustable depth folding box



April 20, 1937. HlNTON 2,077,694

ADJUSTABLE DEPTH FOLDING BOX Filed June 15, 1956 INVENT OR.

25 I I YBVY MM,

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 20, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT ADJUSTABLE DEPTH FOLDING BOX Application June 15,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in adjustable depth folding boxes, and more particularly to boxes or containers for holding a plurality of reams of paper in tightly packed condition.

Certain types of quality paper, such as writing paper, are shipped by weight and grade in containers having therein a definite number of reams. It is a fact, however, that it is an impossibility for all of the sheets of a particular grade to be of exactly the same thickness and bulk. Consequently, in packing a constant number of reams of said paper in containers of predetermined dimensions, there is always some variation in the depth of the pile of paper in the container, with the result that in many instances the paper will not be tightly packed within the container, which is objectionable in transportation.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a container which may be easily varied as to height or depth to exactly adapt it to the pile of material therein, so that it will tightly encase the material during transportation. 25 A further objectof the invention is to provide an adjustable depth container of the character described which may be folded from a one-piece fiber board blank.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjustable or variable height container wherein certain of the walls are selectively foldable with respect to other of said walls on any of a plurality of adjacent fold lines whereby the transverse dimensions of certain of said walls may be varied to adapt said walls to the height of a stack of material disposed within the container.

Another object of the invention is to provide a variable height container having a plurality of fold lines for the selective folding of certain of the container walls for height variations, with slots between certain of the other walls to permit non-interfering folding of the same regardless of the lines of fold utilized for the first-mentioned walls.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a one-piece variable height folding box wherein spaced-apart fold lines are provided for some of the walls and at the ends of each group of spaced-apart fold lines, as between other walls of the box, there are slots of greater width than the adjacent group of fold lines, permitting neat and non-interfering folding of said latter walls, regardless of which fold lines of the groups are utilized for the other walls, resulting in a neat 1936, Serial No. 85,27l

compact container for tightly enclosing a pile of material irrespective of slight departures from the standard in the height of said material pile.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjustable depth container which is of very simple construction, is easily folded and assembled into the required form and depth, is strong and durable and light, is inexpensive to manufacture, and is well adapted for the purposes set forth. I

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of the improved adjustable depth folding box, and its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawing in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the open blank from which the improved container or box is folded;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the box in set-up condition for use, parts being broken away and in section to show details of construction;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detail sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a similar view only showing the variation in height or depth of the container when other fold lines for certain of the walls are utilized.

While the invention has been shown and described herein as being specifically applied to a folding box or container of'a certain size and proportions, preferably for writing paper, it will be apparent that some of the novel features are capable of more general application, and that the specific disclosure should not therefore be construed as an intent to limit the scope.

Referring now particularly to the drawing, it will appear that the improved box is folded, as sembled, or set up from a one-piece blank shown in Fig. 1, preferably formed of fiber board or similar materials.

From the view of the'blank it will appear that a bottom 8 has foldably connected to its side edges, by means of scored fold lines 9, a pair of sides Ill. The other edges of the sides at are foldably connected to complementary top members II by a plurality of parallel fold lines l2. Each group of parallel fold lines l2 between a side II) and top member l-I comprises a group of preferably four parallel scored lines, and said top member I I may be folded at right angles to the adjacent side ID on any selected fold line of the group. There are foldably connected with the ends of the bottom 8 a pair of bottom end flaps l 3, and there are also foldably connected with the ends of each side It! a pair of side end flaps 14. Between each side end flap l4 and the adjacent end of a bottom end flap I3 there is a narrow slit l5. Each end of the top members H has foldably connected thereto a top end flap !6. As appears most clearly from Fig. 1, an important feature of the invention resides in the provision between the adjacent ends of the flaps l4 and It, a wide slot l1. Each slot I! in the blank is coextensive with the end of a group of parallel fold lines I2, and the Width of a slot l! is slightly greater than the transverse dimension of a group of said fold lines.

The improved container or folding box is set up from the blank in the following manner: The sides H] are folded vertically at right angles to the bottom 8 and the side end flaps M are turned inwardly at right angles to the sides Hi. It is next necessary to determine the ultimate height or depth for the container, and this depends upon the depth or height of the pile of material to be packed therein, or disposed on the bottom 8 during the setting up of the container. Assuming that it is necessary or desirable to have the container of its maximum height or depth, then the top members II are folded with respect to the sides In on the outermost fold lines !2 of the two groups. This produces an arrangement such as is disclosed in Fig. 3. In the arrangement of the box, the top end flaps I6 are folded downwardly over the inturned flaps M, and lastly the bottom end flaps l3 are folded upwardly, overlapping the flaps l6 which in turn overlap the flaps M. The ends of the box may be secured in this form by conventional means such as stapling the flap portions together, or the same may be taped. The entire container may be closed and sealed by means of a strip of tape l8 applied over and along the adjacent edges of the top members H and flaps l6. As may be clearly noted from Figs. 1, 2 and 3, when the outermost fold lines l2 are utilized, there is a substantial gap or space between the upper ends of the folded flaps l4 and the ends of the top members I I. This is due to the side slots H, but said spaces are of no consequence in the final container because they are covered over by the down-turned end flaps I6.

It is obvious that a container of less height or depth may be set up by folding the top members ll relative to the sides I!) on others of the fold lines l2. A container of least possible height or depth with the arrangement disclosed, is shown in Fig. 4, and it is obvious that depths between that of Figs. 3 and 4 may be obtained by using fold lines between the two limits disclosed. The arrangement of Fig. 4 illustrates the special utility of the wide end slots ii. In this case the height of the walls I!) is materially reduced by the transverse dimensions of the groups of fold lines. This is compensated for by the slots I! whereby the top members ll fold down evenly onto or adjacent the upper edges of the side end flaps l4 without interference.

The improved container is particularly advantageous and useful for the shipping of reams of writing paper. When writing paper is produced at a mill, even though it be of a standard grade, the height or depth of a certain number of reams of the same will vary somewhat from the height or depth of another stack of the same number of reams. It is always customary to ship a certain standard number of reams in a package or container, and by virtue of the present invention it is always possible to exactly adapt the container to the height or depth of the pile of paper to be shipped, regardless of any differences in the height or depth. This is of course accomplished by folding the top members ll relative to the sides Ill on selected fold lines l2, whereby the height of the walls it is 'made to conform with the height of the pile of paper to be shipped. The final package is therefore adapted to tightly enclose the commodity and does not permit of any shifting or looseness in the package which might be detrimental to the paper.

The improved container is economically produced from a one-piece blank of even shape and proportions, and can be readily folded and assembled into the proper enclosing shape. The adjustable depth container is furthermore of simple and novel construction and is Well adapted for the purposes described.

What is claimed as the invention is:

l. A variable depth container, comprising a plurality of main Wall forming sections foldably connected together and arranged to provide a six-sided enclosure, there being groups of parallel selective lines of fold between certain of said main sections, and other sections foldably connected at the ends of said main sections, there being wide slots between adjacent edges of said other sections with each slot coextensive with and slightly wider than a group of lines of fold.

2. A variable depth container, comprising a plurality of wall forming sections foldably connected together and arranged to provide a sixsided enclosure, there being groups of parallel selective lines of fold between certain of said sections, and other sections foldably connected at the ends of said sections separated by the groups of selective lines of fold, there being wide slots between adjacent edges of said latter sections with each slot coextensive with and slightly Wider than a group of lines of fold.

3. A one-piece blank for forming a hollow, variable depth container, comprising a fiber board member having fifteen foldably associated wall forming portions, a group of selective parallel fold lines between certain adjacent pairs of main Wall portions, selected fold lines being utilized to vary the ultimate transverse imensions of certain of said wall portions, and end flaps foldably associated with ends of said main wall portions, adjacent sides of pairs of end flaps being separated by a wide slot, there being a slot at each end of a group of said selective fold lines and the slot being slightly wider than said group of fold lines.

GEORGE W. HINTON. 

